Sarabi, the Lioness, benefits from ACCA SA Student Fun Day
03 Sep 2005
Imagine an amazing race at the Pretoria Zoo, where contestants drive golf carts from the elephant enclosure to lion's den, picking up clue cards along the way and racing to the finish!
For 105 ACCA students, who participated in our inaugural Student Day on Saturday, 3rd September 2005, the Amazing race at the zoo was the definitely the highlight of a day that was packed with fun, team building, being motivated and ultimately feeling proud to be part of the ACCA family.
The event, organised by the local office, was received overwhelmingly by students. Initially, the day was planned around hosting 50 students, but an eager and excited 105 students responded. But this presented no problem for Liandra de Villiers, from Altimax Training Centre, who co-ordinated the day's events. Due to her skilful attention to detail and oodles of patience, Liandra's contingency plan was kicked into action and we were able to accommodate double the original number, at the eleventh hour (literally!).
Students met at Altimax Training centre, in Midrand, where they were treated to a welcome drink and then spent some time building a rapport with their new-found team members. Teams had to brand themselves and create a banner that reflected their desire to win the ultimate "challenge". The ACCA students showed great creativity in this event: team names like "Blue Power", "Gladiators", "Green Team" and "Conquerors" come to mind. Creating a banner was quite a challenge, as you can imagine - not too many accountants out there who are also blessed with artistic talent!
Armed with branded ACCA T-shirts in different colours, war cries and banners, students boarded the buses that were to transport them to the Pretoria Zoo. All cars were left behind at Altimax. What a relief, for some of us who are always behind a steering wheel!
On arrival at the Zoo, the race began. Of the 26 teams that participated, 13 raced on golf karts and the other half on foot. For the team that opted for the foot race, they got to go on the cable car to reach their final destination. Following the clues on clue cards led to teams finding all sorts of animals, and then picking up their next clue. Interpreting the clues and then locating the right animals using the maps provided was not easy, but proved very exciting. Members of the team had to work together to solve the riddle, locate animal points with the next clue and then run to finishing point. Bear in mind that a lot of us have not been to the zoo in years and we have become older and slower, which made finding our way and getting the next clue a real effort! Even members of the organising team struggled to find the clue points!
In the Golf cart race, the "Creators" team triumphed, followed very closely by the "Horizon Breakers". The "Kudus" team came in third. The cable car route had " Gladiators " as the winners, followed by the "Blueprints" then the "Yellow Team". The winners were awarded prizes back at Altimax Training centre.
The winning team members received gift vouchers from Woolworths.
ACCA SA also pledged an amount of R3000 towards the lioness Sarabi, and we have officially adopted her in honour of all ACCA students in South Africa.
Back in the bus, all excited, the students were treated to a tasty lunch box that satisfied their hunger, for the time being.
Gerhard de Lange, who spent 5 years tracking lions and studying their behaviour, gave an awesome talk, entitled "Lessons from Lions". Gerhard spoke about typical lion behaviour and drew lessons on how we as people can benefit from that. "A lion on its own has no power, but depends on members of the team or strategic alliances to defeat the enemy", was the everlasting message that was conveyed to students, who sat on the edge of their seats soaking up the wonderful analogies that Gerhard shared.
A huge lunch that comprised loads of meat, salads and pudding was served, whilst students networked, shared their thoughts and generally took in what was a day filled with wonderful experiences.
General feedback from students indicated that they enjoyed the day and felt like they belonged to an ACCA networking team. One student commented "Today I have experienced a lot, sharing ideas with students, making connections and creating partnerships with people on the same line and objectives. It is a real blessing." Another comment was "I have enjoyed myself. The team challenge was much fun. The presentation was relevant to my situation and I have thought of ways to sort out problems at my work. Team effort has potential to yield great results. I now feel proud and I have more reasons to put forward as I continue to negotiate and convince my employer about the relevance and importance of my studies."
We look forward to next year's Student Day, where fun, teambuilding and challenging our competitive spirits will definitely be the order of the day.